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CiMAGRetreatReport,11–12June20121
CrisisInformationManagementCiMAGRetreat,10–12June2012,DolcePalisades,NewYork
Day1
OnthefirstdaysessionsbeganwithanintroductiontotheCrisisInformationManagement(CiM)strategyandtheoriginoftheCrisisInformationManagementAdvisoryGroup(CiMAG)byUNASGandCITODr.SoonHongChoiandAmbassadorDanielStauffacherfromtheICT4PeaceFoundation.SanjanaHattotuwafromtheICT4PeaceFoundationfollowedwithapresentationonthestateofplaywithinformationarchitectureandtechnologytoolsthatwerealreadyusedinorhadgreatpotentialforimprovingcrisisinformationmanagement.PresentationsfromanumberofUNagenciesfollowedtheseintroductoryremarksandtheframingofCiMwithreferencetowhatwerealreadyrobusttoolsandplatformsoutsidetheUNsystem.Theagenciesthatpresentedwere(innoparticularorder),1.
 
OICT2.
 
OCHA3.
 
DPKO4.
 
UNHCR5.
 
WFP6.
 
UNOHCHR7.
 
GlobalPulse8.
 
UNOSAT9.
 
UNCrisisOperationCenterAllagenciespresentattheretreatwelcomedtheCiMAGprocessasanessentialvehicletosharebestpractisesandworktowardsconvergenceundertheCiMStrategy.ICT4Peaceinformedthattherewouldbeanotherhigh-levelluncheonmeetingwithUNmemberstatesinNewYorkinJulytoinformthemabouttheresultsoftheretreatandprogressmadeundertheCiMstrategy.PresentationsfocussedonrecentdevelopmentsrelatedtothefourcentralpillarsoftheCiMstrategy,namely,informationarchitecture,technologydevelopment,stakeholdermanagementandcapacitybuilding.OICTreportedontheestablishmentoftheFoundationforaDigitalUN,andofmeetingswithleadingtechnologycompaniesinSiliconValleyincludingFacebookonhowtheycouldinteractbetterwiththeUNsystem.TherewerealsoupdatesontheworkoftheUNSpatialDataInfrastructure(UNSDI)project,whichRobertKirkpatrickfromUNGlobalPulsealsoreferencedinhispresentationthatfollowed.TheCITOnotedthatCiMwasoneofthepotentialprojectsthatcouldbefundedbytheFoundationforaDigitalUN.OCHAupdatedonhttp://www.humanitarianresponse.info,theCommonOperationalDatasetwebsiteandthehttp://cod.humanitarianresponse.infowebsiteandprogressmadetopopulatethedatasets(itwasnotedthataround85%wascompleted),thedevelopmentofacommoninformationrequestingformatandplatformsothattherewasgreaterunderstandingaboutwhatdataneededtobecollected,howthisdatacouldbestored,andthedevelopmentofacommondatarepository.OCHAalsospokeverybrieflyaboutthedevelopmentofHXLandaHumanitarianOpenDataInitiative,includingtheestablishmentofaworkinggrouptolookingintowhatdatasetscouldbepartoftheinitiative.TherewasalsosomediscussiononhowandwhytheIASCTaskForceonInformationManagementofficiallyceasedtoexist.
Office of the CITOUnited Nations Secretariat
 
CiMAGRetreatReport,11–12June20122
DPKOpresentedon,interalia,thelargersystemicissuestheyfacedwhendealingwithcrisisinformationmanagement.DPKOnotedanumberofchallengesinthepeaceoperations:cleardatagovernance,handlingofsensitiveinformation,lackofadataprivacypolicyintheUN,difficultiesofinformationverificationandtakingsubsequentactionover,withintighttimeframes,unverifiedandoftenerrorriddendata,andinfrastructuralchallenges.Inresponse,theCITOmadesomeveryinterestingpointsoverthemutabilityofcontentclassification,andthatclassificationregimesthatworkedinsomecontextsandforsomemissionswouldpossiblynotworkinothermissionsandresponses.TheCITOspokeabouttheneedtolookattheTasmanianGovernment’smetadatapolicythatwasinstructivefortheUNtocreateitsown.UNHCRnotedthatitwasimportanttolookatthefieldlevelandnotjusttheHQ,andthatCiMwasprimarilyafieldlevelexercise,notoneanchoredtoHQalone,orprimarily.UNHCRspokeoftheneedforfasterresponseandupdatetimeofcrisisinformationwithintheUNsystem,theneedforamasterdataset,tonotbeboundbytechnologywhenonedesignsanddeploysinformationarchitecturesforCiMandtheparamountimportanceoftheflexibilityandaccesstouseICTsastheyseefitandbestgearedtomeetthedemandsofCiM.UNHCRalsochampionedtheideaoftheUNHumanitarianDataDay,peggedtopossiblytheICCMinWashingtonDClaterthisyear.Inthepresentation,UNHCRalsonotedthatthefieldneededtobuildthecapacitytodotheirownmapping,assessmentsandotherCiMrelatedwork.WhenaskedbytheCITOastowhetheritwaspossibleforUNHCRtomaintainR&Dduringperennialcrises,theanswerwasyes,becausetheagencyhadnochoice.Intheevening,indiscussionswithGoogleCrisisResponse,itwasmentionedtotheICT4PeaceFoundationthatiftheUNHumanitarianOpenDataDayweretogoahead,GoogleCrisisResponsewouldlookveryfavourablyatsponsoringalargepartofsuchaninitiative.WFPnotedthatitdoesnothaveacentralICTfusionhubbutthatthismaychangebecauseoforganisationalchangesintheoffing.WFPstressedthedevelopmentinmobilebasedfielddatacollection,aMasterDataManagementProjectthatwasanchoredtoanidentifieroneverybitofgeo-information,thedevelopmentofHEWS2.0withUNJRCandtheoverwhelmingneedtoascertainifbigandopendata,alongwithsocialmediacouldhelpthepredictivecapabilitiesandcapacitiesofUNagencies.UNGlobalPulsepresentedtheirworkinIndonesiainparticularandhowbigdatawasrevolutionisingthewaytheUNandgovernmentsinteractedwiththeircitizens.ThedeeplyethnographicnatureofBigDatawasflagged,andthatfortheprivacyissuesalone,GlobalPulsereceivedintensivehelpfromanattorney.UNOSATpresentedonhoweyesintheskycouldandhavehelpedwithcrisisinformationmanagementwhenonthegroundsourceswerescarce,unreliable,atriskoracombinationofallthree.Itwasnotedthat50%ormoreofimageryinthefuturewouldcomefromUAVandnotsatellites,whichcouldbehelpfulforcampmanagementpurposesforexample,providedoverflyrightswereobtained.Itwasstronglynotedthattechnologyshouldnotdrivethesolution,butthatitwasnecessarytoleverageitattherightmoments.Thebestcrowdsourcingandcrisismappingoccurred,itwasflagged,whenvolunteersweregatheredaroundacentralmissionortask.TheissueoflicensingwasflaggedasamajorproblemthatseriouslybedevilledmoreeffectiveinformationsharingevenamongstUNagencies,forexample,usingmaps.Bigthemesthatemergedduringthedayincludedthedualuseoftechnologiesandbesttocreateguidancenotesandprogressivepoliciesregardingthis(e.g.BigDatacouldbebothveryusefulandleadtoprivacynightmaresandpossiblyevenborderonsurveillanceinlessdemocraticregimes).Itwasalsoflaggedthatthesheervolumeofdatacould,giventhemyriadofmetricscollectedforeachcustomeronmobilenetworks,anduserofwebbasedsocialnetworksforexample,leadtoahighaccuracyindeterminingpersonalinformation,includingtraits,credithistoryandlocationdata.GiventhatthelikesofCNNandFacebookhadaskedtheUNtopresentacoherentapproachiftheywantedtobefeaturedprimusinterparesintheirrespectiveinformationspace,itwasaskedastowhattheUNcoulddointhisregard.
 
CiMAGRetreatReport,11–12June20123
TherewereconcernsovertheprivatisationofCiMandcrisisrelatedinformation,withthelikesofGoogle,Twitter,MicrosoftandFacebooknowascorporationsinvolvedindatacollection,archivalanddisseminationthatisfundamentallydifferenttotheoperationalethics,guidelines,practicesandstandardsoftheUNsystem,withobviousconcernsoverdataretention,useandrelease.Therewerequestionsovertheeffectivenessandefficiencygains,ifany,withtheuseofsocialmediaandboundedcrowdsourcing.Someparticipantsflaggedthattheselectionoftheboundedcrowdsourcingframeimpactedthenatureoftheinformationproduced,whichcanbeveryimportanttonotforgetwhendealingwithComplexPoliticalEmergencies(CPEs).ItwasnotedthatCiMtools,practicesandplatformsthatworkedforhumanitariandisasterswouldnotbethosemostappropriateforgenerating,capturing,archivingandanalysinginformationaroundCPEs.QuestionswerealsoraisedonthestatisticalmodelsforsocialmediainCiMandwhethersocialmediabasedsituationalawarenesswasmostusefulandappropriateonlyinhighfrequency,geographicallyframedcontexts,andthatdifficultiesoververificationwhentheywerefewandfarbetweenunderminedsocialmedia’svalue.Theissueoftranslationswasflagged,andtheideawasmootedwhethertheCiMAGcouldbeamarketplaceofideasrespondingtochallengesfacedbyitsconstituencymembers.Overall,CiMAGmembersdiscussedwhetheranyone,includingtheUNsystem,hadafullunderstandingovertherisksofusingcrowd-sourcedinformation.Itwasnotedthatthedebatewasn’taboutwhethertousecrowdsourcedinformationornot,buthowbesttodoitinlightofthelargerresponsibilitiesoftheUNsystemtoitsstakeholdersandmemberstates.Itwasalsorepeated,aswithCiMAGmeetingsbefore,thatthoseinvolvedinCiMneededtoinstitutionaliseCiMpractices,policiesandplatforms
before
acrisis,andnotjuststartthinkingaboutthemafterone.Re-purposingexistingplatformswasnotedtobefarmoreeffectivethanthesuddenintroductionofnewplatforms,nomatterhowgoodtheywere.Somesaidthatitwasimportanttolistencarefullyfirstbeforeprotectingone’sownpre-suppositionsandbiasestowardstheinformationreceivedfromthefield,especiallyfromCPEsandhumanitarianemergencieswithinCPEs.Aroundstakeholdermanagement,therewasalsosomediscussionovertheneedtocreatemoreCiMAPI’sfortheUN,andthatoneofthebestusesofGlobalPulsewithintheUNsystemwouldbetoseeitasaservice,andlessasastandaloneplatformorinitiative.TherewasapresentationoftheUN’ssoontobeestablished24/7crisisoperationscentreanddiscussionarounditsoperations,analysisroutines,foci,interactionwiththeCiMAGmembership,reportingformatsandinformationarchitectures.Intheevening,therewasapresentationmadebyUshahidi’sSwiftRiver,demonstratingforthefirsttimetotheCiMAGmembersscreenshotsoftheoperationalbetaoftheplatform,andtheconceptbehindit.
Day2
AttheinvitationoftheICT4PeaceFoundation,severalleadingprivatesectorandnon-profitactorsinvolvedinCiMparticipatedintheretreat,providingavaluableopportunityforrichdiscussionsonsharedchallengesandopportunitieswiththeCiMAGmembers.Thoughnotallinvitedcouldmakeittotheretreat,theseparticipantsfromoutsidetheUNwererequestedtointeractwithCiMAGmembersbecause,sinceatleasttheHaitiearthquakein2010,theirtools,technologies(HQ,fieldbasedandmobile)andplatforms(webaswellasoffline)aresignificantlyandindeed,increasinglyusedincrisesrangingfromnaturaldisasterstomorecomplexpoliticalemergencies.Participantsincluded,1.
 
GoogleCrisisResponse2.
 
YouTubeandcrises3.
 
Meedan4.
 
ESRI5.
 
DevelopmentSeed6.
 
OpenTechnologyInstituteoftheNewAmericanFoundation
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    835 Reads
    9 p.
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    9 p.
    Land_Circular_Brief_Commentary_March_12_2013_Final.pdf
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    100 p.
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    3 p.
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    1 p.
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    164 Reads
    Notes
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